Ice cube making machine



June 30, 1959 Filed Nov. 9, 1954 G. E. WOODMARK ETAL ICE CUBE MAKINGv MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5& Z3 23 L5 /&

Y L 23 /7 /7 a 33 23 32 z/ azz/v/v f A Q Z5 1 A RK June 1959 a. E. WOODMARK ET AL 2,892,323

ICE CUBE MAKING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 9. 1954 2 K R mm a my; w V0/ 2 N00 0 1W5 r 7 2 Q 4 m aww United States Patent 2,892,323 ICE CUBE MAKING MACHINE Glenn E. Woodmark and Dwight L. Bollefer, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application November 9, 1954, Serial No. 467,691

2 Claims. (Cl. 62--347) Our invention relates to a novel and improved ice cube making machine.

In particular, it relates to an ice cube making machine comprising one or a number of inverted or upsidedown freezing cups, that is, having downwardly opening mouths, supported in upwardly spaced relation to one or anumber of upwardly directed spray nozzles; the inverted cup or cups are adapted to receive from the nozzle or nozzles a sprayed deposit of solution which is frozen in part on the walls of the cup or cups and on the formed ice until a complete ice cube or a plurality of cubes are formed.

It is an object of our invention to provide an ice cube making machine using an inverted freezing cup which is thoroughly eflicient and elfective in operation.

A principal source of difiiculty or disadvantage in an ice cube making machine using inverted freezing cups, which would sap its effectiveness, lies in the defrost and harvesting process; wherein many factors may cause the machine to be slow or sporadic in ejecting the formed cubes from the cups.

It is, therefore, another object of our invention to provide an ice cube making machine using an inverted freezing cupwhich consistently freezes a uniform, well-shaped, easily harvestable ice cube; and further, if a plurality of ice cubes are formed by the use of several inverted cups, each cube is maintained individual and separate and is not bridged over and joined to adjacent ice cubes.

More specifically, it is an object of our invention to provide a depending annular skirt of low K-factor material associated with each cup adjacent the open end thereof which is adapted to restrict the formation of ice at the open end of the cup and to aid in the forma tion of a uniform, well-shaped, easily harvestable ice cube. A laterally projecting head or irregular projection of ice at the end of the cup would normaly have to be entirely melted before the cube within the inverted cup would harvest, which means not only a slower harvesting period but also that the entire. size of the cube is reduced by the longer defrost time; the depending annular skirt of our invention prevents the formation of irregular and laterally projecting formations of ice which would hinder the proper harvesting of the cube.

It is a further important object of our invention to provide a novel and improved ice cube making machine which is fail-safe, wherein a failure during the freezing cycle of operation which would act to continue the freezing cycle beyond its normal duration does not result in a damaging, excessive build-up of ice within the machine.

These and other objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent from the following specification and claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in vertical longitudinal section of our novel and improved ice cube making machine;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged detailed view of the inverted freezing cups of our invention;

2,892,323 Patented June 30, 1959 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in vertical cross section of our invention; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in plan taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like parts will be indicated by the same numeral, our novel and improved ice cube making machine, indicated in its entirety by the general reference numeral 10, comprises a reservoir 11, which is also a drip tray, from which the solution to be frozen, preferably water, is pumped, by a pump not shown in the drawings, through conduit 12 to a header or distribution system 13 in which is mounted a plurality of spray nozzles 14, located so as to cause a vertical spray of water to be projected upwardly. It is clear that the spray nozzles 14, instead of being fastened to the header 13 as shown in the drawings, may be either individually piped from the pump or collectively tapped into a common pipe from the pump.

Supported in vertically upwardly spaced relation to the nozzles 14 are a plurality of inverted freezing cups 15. Preferably, cups 15 are placed in laterally spaced, parallel rows disposed in common horizontal planes, each row consisting of a plurality of spaced, aligned cups; and preferably, each individual cup is supported directly above a spray nozzle 14. Inverted freezing cups 15 are adapted to receive a sprayed deposit of water, or the solution to be frozen, from the upwardly directed nozzles 14, which is frozen in part on the walls of the cups 15 and on the formed ice until a plurality of complete ice cubes are formed. The volume of water so sprayed up into the inverted cups 15 is not frozen in the cups in its entirety, but there is a certain amount of over-spray or overflow that will drain back into the reservoir and drip tray 11, which is mounted directly under the cups 15 and the spray nozzles 14.

Each of the inverted freezing cups 15 comprises a generally flat bottom wall 16 and annular side wall structure 17, which preferably consists of four depending side walls joined to each other and to the bottom wall 16 by smooth and rounded corners and edges to define a generally cube-shaped cavity 18. Side walls 17 are tapered to assist in the ejection of the ice from the freezing cups 15. The extent of taper is somewhat critical; in that, the more vertical the walls 17 the more difficult it is to eject the ice, and an excess taper would result in an unbalanced formation of the ice cube which might not readily be accepted by the users thereof. Walls 17 define straight downwardly and outwardly extending inner surfaces 19 and terminate in flat, horizontally disposed ends 20. Side walls 17 further define an open top or mouth 21, which is a downwardly opening, horizontally disposed, generally square-shaped opening into the cavity 18. A laterally outwardly projecting annular flange 22 is secured to the side walls 17 adjacent open top or mouth 21, and preferably is formed integrally with the walls 17 in a manner that does not interfere with the hat ends 20 which preferably extend sharply outwardly from the inner surface 19 of the walls 17.

Inverted freezing cups 15 are anchored in heat exchange relationship by metallic bonding to a plurality of interconnected longitudinally extending refrigerant tubes 23. As particularly seen in Fig. 3, a pair of laterally spaced tubes is associated with each row of cups and is secured to the bottom wall 16 of each of the cups 15 of the row; and in addition, two pair of vertically spaced tubes 23 are secured to opposite side walls 17 of the cups 15 of each row. A single pair of vertically spaced tubes extends between adjacent rows of cups 15 and is secured to each of adjacent cups 15 at opposite sides of the tubes 23. Refrigerant tubes 23 act as an evaporator coil to cool the cups 15, formed of heat conductive material which is preferably copper, during the freezing cycle of operation until the ice cubes have been completely formed within the cavities 18; at which time, hot gas from the hot gas side of the compressor-of the refrigerating system, not shown in the drawings, is pumped through refrigerant tubes 23 causing the cups 15 to heat and melt the ice adjacent its walls 16 and 17, which releases the ice cubes and allows them to fall downwardly by gravity upon an inclined screen or grid 24 which overlies v the nozzles 14 and is downwardly spaced from the cups 15. Grid 24 is formed of rust-proof rods or wires and is normally adapted to direct the individual ice cubes into a harvest bin 25. Disposed adjacentthe lower end of grid 24 and laterally spaced therefrom is a downwardly and inwardly sloping bafile 26 which intercepts the cubes leaving the grid 24 to direct them into the bin 25, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 1.

Associated with and anchored to each of the inverted freezing cups 15 is a depending annular marginal skirt or insulating member 27 formed of low K-factor material and adapted to bedisposed adjacent the open top or mouth 21 thereof. The lower the K-factor of a material the poorer it is as a conductor of heat. Each of the skirts 27 has a lip portion 28 which defines an inner annular surface 29 disposed in a continuous or uninterrupted relationship with the inner surfaces 19 of each of the cups 15; and preferably as shown, the annular surface 29 of lip portion 28 extends downwardly and slightly outwardly in the same planes with the adjacent surfaces 19 and adjoining thereto in undivided relationship.

The skirt or insulating member 27 is an important factor in an ice machine of this type, which involves inverted freezing cups, because it prevents the bloom or formation of ice in a lateral direction and keeps the shape of the ice cube formed within the cavity 18 more exact; and with respect to a plurality of cups 15, it prevents the cubes from bridging one to another and forming together into a solid mass. Without the skirt 27, it is clear that ice formed within a cup 15 would extend about the ends 29' of the side walls 17 thereof, which laterally extending formation of ice would hold the cube within the inverted cup and would result in a slow and sporadic harvesting period; also the entire size of the cube formed would be reduced because of the longer defrost period. It is important that the inner surface 29 of-each skirt 27 be disposed in a continuous relationship with the downwardly extending inner surfaces 19 because any interruption between the cup 15 and the skirt 27 would result in a laterally outwardly projecting formation of ice forming between the skirt and cup which would hinder proper harvesting of the ice cube. Further, inner surface 25 should continue along the generally downwardly and outwardly taper of the cup 15 to facilitate the ejection of the ice cube formed in cavity 18. Thus, each skirt 27 is associated with a cup 15 to insure that a uniform, well-shaped, easily harvestable ice cube is formed within the cavity 18 defined by the cup 15; and where our machine comprises a plurality of cups 15, each having a skirt 27 associated therewith, the skirts 27 insure that the ice cubes formed within the cups are maintained individual and separate and are never formed together into a solid mass of cubes.

Skirt 27 may be anchored to the cup 15 in any suit- .able manner such as by fusing; but preferably as shown,

each of the skirts 27 is provided with an inwardly opening annular channel 30 which is adapted to receive the annular flange 22 of each of the cups 15. Channel 30 has vertically spaced horizontally disposed annular side walls 31 and 32; and the former is adapted to abut against the flat horizontally disposed ends 29. Each of the skirts 2'7 is provided with an annular laterally outwardly projecting bead-like portion 33 which defines vertically extending lateral surfaces 33a annularly disposed 4 about the open end of the cup 15. Surfaces 33a are adapted to abut similarly disposed portions of all adjacent skirts 27 to limit the spray of water from nozzles 14 from being carried up onto the refrigerant tubes 23.

Each of the skirts 27 is formed of a flexible and resilient material which, as previously mentioned, has a low K-factor and may be of molded rubber or any other suitable material. The flexibility of the skirt 27 permits it to yield against any expansion caused by thefreezing of the ice cube and the resiliency of the skirt 27 causes it to return to its uninterrupted and continuous relationship with the inner surfaces 19 of the cup 15 with which it is associated. It is clear that any interruption between a cup 15 and the skirt 27 associated therewith, which would be formed by the expansion, would be prevented from receiving any water between the cup and the skirt by the formed ice; and therefore, there 'would be? no laterally projecting formation of ice which would hinder the proper harvesting of the ice cube. It is'important that the uninterrupted and continuous relationship between the cup and skirt be reassumed for the next cycle of operation, and this is effected by the resiliency of the skirt 27 which will return to its normal position during the defrost period of the cycle of operation.

The refrigerant tubes 23 and the plurality of inverted freezing cups 15 bonded thereto comprise an integrated celled heat evaporator unit which may be indicated by the numeral 34. As shown herein, the skirts 27 are formed individually and each attached to a single cup 15; however, it is conceivable that several or the entire number of skirts 27 'might be formed integrally and associated with the heat evaporator 34 in their proper relation, as afore-mentioned with respect to a single skirt in association with a single cup 15. Evaporator unit 34 is adapted to be enclosed by an evaporator tray 35 to which is secured a plastic seal- 36. Plastic seal 36 is adapted to abut the surfaces 33a of the bead-like portions 33 of the skirts 27 which are positioned on-the end rows of cups 15 to complete the seal which prevents the upwardly sprayed water from extending into the evaporator tray 35 where it would ice on the refrigerant tubes 23. A plastic curtain 37 is secured to the plastic seal 35 extending across the front of our machine 10 to prevent the water from spraying out of the open front, indicated by the numeral 38.

If our machine 10 were to be fixed at the freezing period of its operative cycle, a point of capacity balance would be reached after a period of approximately twentyfour hours. At this point, the heat evaporating capacity of the refrigerant tubes 23 is dissipated before it can reach the outer surface of the formed ice so that all 'of the water sprayed upwardly will return to the reservoir and drip tray 11 and none of it is formed into additional ice. The low K-factor skirts 27 restrict the formation of ice adjacent the mouth 21 of the cups 15 to the extent that even at the point of capacity balance, the individual cubes formed within each cavity 18 are joined only by thin sections of' ice; and skirts 27 act to shield the outer surface of the formed ice from the heat evaporator unit 34. Thus, if our machine 10 should fail during the freezing cycle of operation in a manner .to continue the freezing cycle beyond its normal duration, there does not result a damaging, excessive build-up of ice within the machine. 1

Although an excessive build-up of ice within our machine 10 is prevented by skirts 27, theindividual cubes are joined to some extent into a solid mass; audit is possible that if this mass of ice should harvest, it would remain between the spray nozzles 14 and the cups 15 so that a further formation of ice within the cups 15 could effect a damaging pile-up of ice. However, our machine 10 is also fail-safe in this respect. If the blanket or mass 'of ice formed by the failure of the machine during the freezing cycle should harvest, harvest rack 24 would hold this blanket of ice to shield cups 15 from spray nozzles 14 which would prevent any further formation of ice until the water from spray nozzles 14 has eroded or melted the thin sections of ice joining the individual cubes. As soon as the water from nozzles 14 has melted the blanket of ice, the separated cubes are able to pass into the harvest bin 25 which only then allows the water from nozzles 14 to reach the cups 15. It is clear, however, that in no way can there occur an excessive build-up of ice within the machine which would damage it; and therefore, our novel and improved ice machine is fail-safe.

Our novel and improved ice cube making machine has been built and tested and found to be thoroughly eflicient and eifective and to accomplish all of the afore-mentioned objectives. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that our machine may be modified by many substitutions and equivalents and that this disclosure is intended to be illustrative only; therefore, we intend to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In an ice cube making machine, a plurality of laterally spaced inverted open-topped freezing cups adapted to be anchored in upwardly spaced relationship with spray nozzles to receive therefrom a sprayed deposit of solution being frozen in part on the walls of each of said cups and on the ice formed therein until a plurality of complete ice cubes are formed, and a plurality of annular marginal individual skirts of low K-factor each disposed at the open end of and depending from a different one of said cups, each of said skirts defining an inner surface extending generally downwardly and outwardly in an uninterrupted relationship with the inner surface of the cup with which it is associated, and each of said skirts defining an annular laterally outwardly projecting beadlike portion abutting similarly disposed portions of all adjacent skirts for limiting the spray of solution from said nozzles from being carried to the exterior of said cups.

2. In an ice cube making machine, a plurality of laterally spaced inverted open-topped freezing cups adapted to be anchored in upwardly spaced relationship with spray nozzles to receive therefrom a sprayed deposit of solution being frozen in part on the falls of each of said cups and on the ice formed therein until a plurality of complete ice cubes are formed, and a plurality of annular marginal individual skirts of low K-factor each disposed at the open end of and depending from a different one of said cups, each of said cups having, an annular laterally outwardly projecting flange rigid therewith adjacent the open top thereof, each of said skirts having an annular inwardly opening channel formed therein which receives one of said flanges to anchor each skirt to its associated cup, each of said skirts defining an inner surface extending generally downwardly and outwardly in an uninterrupted relationship with the inner surface of the cup with which it is associated, and each of said skirts defining an annular laterally outwardly projecting bead-like portion abutting similarly disposed portions of all adjacent skirts for limiting the spray of solution from said nozzles from being carried to the exterior of said cups.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,038,990 Barr Apr. 28, 1936 2,403,275 Gilliam July 2, 1946 2,463,516 Burkhardt Mar. 8, 1949 2,542,892 Bayston Feb. 20, 1951 2,575,892 Roberts Nov. 20, 1951 2,666,548 Lund Jan. 19, 1954 2,674,858 Magnuson Apr. 13, 1954 2,723,536 Mason Nov. 15, 1955 2,729,070 Ames Jan. 3, 1956 

